Processing method for server management device

Abstract

To allow a process for associating the identifier of a receiver with the identifier of a terminal to be appropriately executed.SOLUTION: A server management device of an embodiment is capable of transmitting and receiving information to and from a plurality of server devices that store information associating an identifier of a broadcast receiving device, an authentication code, an identifier of a content providing device, and a first token, and acquires an authentication request including the authentication code, the identifier of the content providing device, and an identifier of a server device from a terminal device that has acquired the authentication code, acquires a notification of an association instruction from the terminal, and after acquiring the notification of the association instruction, acquires the first token corresponding to the authentication code from the server device corresponding to the authentication request, acquires a second token corresponding to a user identifier of the terminal from the content providing device corresponding to the authentication request, acquires the identifier of the broadcast receiving device corresponding to the first token from the server device, and acquires the user identifier of the terminal device corresponding to the second token from the content providing device.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 17

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a server management device Processing method performed by and pertains to it.

Background Art

[0002] In recent years, there is a technology where a receiver and a terminal cooperate to transmit and receive information. For example, the receiver transmits information received from a website to the terminal.

Prior Art Documents

Patent Documents

[0003]

Patent Document 1

Summary of the Invention

Problems to be Solved by the Invention

[0004] In order for the receiver, the terminal, and a content providing device that provides content such as a website to cooperate and transmit and receive information as described above, it is necessary to previously associate the identifier of the user of the terminal with the identifier of the receiver, and it is desirable to perform the association process appropriately.

[0005] Therefore, the problem to be solved by the present invention is to provide a server management device that can appropriately execute the process of associating the identifier of the receiver with the identifier of the terminal.

Means for Solving the Problems

[0006] The processing method of the server management device according to the embodiment is a processing method executed by a server management device capable of transmitting and receiving with a plurality of server devices. The method includes obtaining an authentication code including information for identifying the manufacturer of the broadcast receiving device from the content providing device, specifying a server device corresponding to the authentication code based on the authentication code including information for identifying the manufacturer of the broadcast receiving device, and transmitting an authentication request including the authentication code to the specified destination server device. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0007] [Figure 1] Figure 1 is a diagram showing an overview of an example of the overall configuration of the information sharing system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of a television device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of a television apparatus according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the push delivery server in the first embodiment. [Figure 5] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of the push delivery server in the first embodiment. [Figure 6] Figure 6 shows the data structure of the data stored by the push delivery server of the first embodiment. [Figure 7] Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the overall processing in the information sharing system of the first embodiment. [Figure 8] Figure 8 shows an overview of an example of the overall configuration of the information sharing system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 9] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the common reception server in the second embodiment. [Figure 10] Figure 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the common reception server in the second embodiment. [Figure 11] Figure 11 is a flowchart showing the overall processing in the information sharing system of the second embodiment. [Figure 12] Figure 12 is a flowchart showing the overall processing in the information sharing system of the third embodiment. [Figure 13] Figure 13 is a flowchart showing the overall processing in the information sharing system of the fourth embodiment. [Figure 14] Figure 14 shows an example of promotional information in the information sharing system of the fifth embodiment. [Figure 15]FIG. 15 is a diagram for explaining the advertisement information of the fifth embodiment. [Figure 16] FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing the display process of promotion information in the information cooperation system of the fifth embodiment. [Figure 17] FIG. 17 is a flowchart showing the cooperation process procedure in the information cooperation system of the fifth embodiment. [Figure 18] FIG. 18 is a flowchart showing the cooperation cancellation process in the information cooperation system of the fifth embodiment. [Figure 19] FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing the process procedure for canceling cooperation via the operation of the user terminal in the information cooperation system of the fifth embodiment. [Figure 20] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing an example of information on clickable advertisements in the information cooperation system of the fifth embodiment. [Figure 21] FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing the cooperation process procedure in the information cooperation system of a modified example.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0008] Hereinafter, embodiments (the first embodiment and the second embodiment) of the server device, the broadcast receiving device, the server management device, the information cooperation system, and the program of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

[0009] <00​​First, referring to FIG. 1, an overall configuration example of the information cooperation system S according to the first embodiment will be described. FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an overview of the overall configuration example of the information cooperation system S according to the first embodiment. The information cooperation system S includes a smartphone 1 (terminal), a television device 2 (broadcast receiving device), a TV cloud 3 (server device), and a content providing server 4 which is a content providing device such as an EC (Electronic Commerce) site server. The TV cloud 3 can communicate with the television device 2 and the content providing server 4 via a public communication line such as the Internet. Also, the smartphone 1 can communicate wirelessly with the content providing server 4 and the TV cloud 3 via a base station.

[0010] The smartphone 1 is an example of an information terminal owned by the user of the television device 2. The smartphone 1 includes a communication I / F (InterFace), a voice input unit (microphone), a sensor group, a display unit, a graphic controller, a touch panel controller, a CPU (Central Processing Unit), a memory, a camera, a speaker, etc. In the first embodiment, it is assumed that the user performs Internet shopping using the smartphone 1.

[0011] The TV cloud 3 is a server device that can transmit and receive data to and from the television device 2 via a network, and is a so-called cloud server. The TV cloud 3 may be, for example, a server device operated by the manufacturer of the television device 2. Based on the result of collecting information related to viewing (viewing information) from the television device 2, the TV cloud 3 provides various services such as viewing programs, recommended information for reserved programs, and product recommendation information based on the content of the viewing program to the television device 2 via the network.

[0012] The content provision server 4 is a computer device for operating an e-commerce site (online shop) on the internet. The content provision server 4 is, for example, a server device for an e-commerce platform. The content provision server 4 acts as a platform for users (consumers) to purchase goods and services via the network in response to operations on their terminal devices (such as smartphone 1). The content provision server 4 may also be a video platform providing content such as videos. For example, the content provision server 4 sends product images to smartphone 1 in response to operations on smartphone 1. The content provision server 4 pre-registers the redirect_uri with TV Cloud 3.

[0013] The details of each component in the information sharing system S will be explained below with reference to Figure 2 and subsequent figures. Figure 2 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the television device 2 in the first embodiment. The television device 2 performs display control for a video display unit 233 that is larger than the display unit of the smartphone 1 (details will be described later).

[0014] As shown in Figure 2, the television device 2 includes an input terminal 202, tuners 203a to 203g, a signal processing unit 207, a graphics processing unit 208, an audio processing unit 209, an OSD (On Screen Display) signal generation unit 210, and a video processing unit 211.

[0015] The input terminal 202 receives the terrestrial digital broadcast signal received by the terrestrial broadcast receiving antenna 213. The terrestrial digital broadcast signal is supplied to tuners 203a to 203g via input terminal 202.

[0016] Tuners 203a to 203g are tuners for terrestrial digital broadcasting, and they select the broadcast signal of the channel instructed by the control unit 216 (described later) from the terrestrial digital broadcasting signal supplied from the input terminal 202.

[0017] However, the television device 2 may have an input terminal to which satellite digital broadcast signals received by a BS / CS digital broadcast receiving antenna are input. The satellite digital broadcast signals are supplied to a satellite digital broadcast tuner via such input terminal.

[0018] The signal processing unit 207 demodulates the broadcast signal supplied from the tuners 203a to 203g, including the digital video signal and the audio signal. The signal processing unit 207 also selectively applies predetermined digital signal processing to the video signal included in the digital broadcast signal and outputs it to the graphics processing unit 208. Furthermore, the signal processing unit 207 selectively applies desired digital signal processing to the audio signal included in the digital broadcast signal and outputs it to the audio processing unit 209.

[0019] Multiple external input terminals 214a to 214d are connected to the signal processing unit 207. These external input terminals 214a to 214d can receive analog video and audio signals from external devices such as a DVD (Digital Versatile Disk) recorder. The signal processing unit 207 digitizes the analog video and audio signals input from the external input terminals 214a to 214d. The signal processing unit 207 then applies predetermined digital signal processing to the digitized video signal and outputs it to the graphics processing unit 208. The signal processing unit 207 also applies predetermined digital signal processing to the digitized audio signal and outputs it to the audio processing unit 209.

[0020] The graphics processing unit 208 superimposes the OSD signal generated by the OSD signal generation unit 210 onto the digital video signal supplied from the signal processing unit 207 and outputs it to the video processing unit 211. The graphics processing unit 208 can also output either the digital video signal supplied from the signal processing unit 207 or the OSD signal generated by the OSD signal generation unit 210 to the video processing unit 211.

[0021] The video processing unit 211 converts the digital video signal or OSD signal input from the graphics processing unit 208 into an analog video signal or OSD signal in a format that can be displayed on the display screen of the video display unit 233, and outputs it to the video display unit 233. The video display unit 233 is, for example, an LCD or an organic EL display.

[0022] The audio processing unit 209 converts the digital audio signal input from the signal processing unit 207 into an analog audio signal in a format playable by the speaker 215, and outputs it to the speaker 215.

[0023] The television device 2 further includes a control unit 216, a card holder 217, various interfaces 218 to 221, and a brightness sensor 230. The control unit 216 includes a CPU 216a, a ROM 216b, a RAM 216c, and a non-volatile memory 216d.

[0024] The control unit 216 comprehensively controls various operations of the television device 2, such as receiving broadcast signals including terrestrial digital broadcast signals and satellite digital broadcast signals. The control unit 216 also controls each part of the television device 2 according to operation information from the operation unit 222 or operation information input from the remote control 238 via the light receiving unit 223.

[0025] The CPU 216a controls the operation of the entire television device 2 by executing programs stored in the ROM 216b. The ROM 216b primarily stores programs executed by the CPU 216a. The RAM 216c provides a workspace for the CPU 216a when executing programs. The non-volatile memory 216d stores various setting information and control information for the television device 2.

[0026] The control unit 216 is connected to a card holder 217 that allows the memory card 234 to be inserted and removed via a card interface 225. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information to and from the memory card 234 installed in the card holder 217 via the card interface 225.

[0027] The control unit 216 is connected to the LAN terminal 226 via the communication interface 218. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information with external devices such as the relay device 400 or a LAN-compatible HDD (Hard Disk Drive) connected to the LAN terminal 226 via the communication interface 218. However, the communication interface 218 may be configured to connect wirelessly to external devices such as the relay device 400.

[0028] The control unit 216 is connected to the HDMI terminal 227 via the HDMI® (High-Definition Multimedia Interface) I / F 221. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information with an external device connected to the HDMI terminal 227 via the HDMI I / F 221.

[0029] The control unit 216 is connected to the USB terminal 228 via a USB (Universal Serial Bus) interface 219. This allows the control unit 216 to send and receive various information with the storage device 237, which is equipped with a USB HDD or the like and is connected to the USB terminal 228, via the USB interface 219.

[0030] The storage device 237 includes, for example, an HDD or an SSD (Solid State Drive) and is configured to record the digital signals received by the television device 2 as recorded data. However, the storage device 237 may be built into the television device 2.

[0031] Figure 3 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the television device 2 of the first embodiment. The television device 2 includes a storage unit 241 (ROM 216b, RAM 216c, and non-volatile memory 216d, and storage device 237 in Figure 2), and a transmission unit 242, an acquisition unit 243, and a display control unit 244 as functional modules generated as a result of the program stored in the storage unit 241 being executed by the CPU 216a.

[0032] The transmitting unit 242 transmits various information to an external device. The acquiring unit 243 acquires various information from the external device or reads various information stored in the storage unit 241.

[0033] The display control unit 244 performs display processing to display various information on the video display unit 233. For example, the display control unit 244 displays an image on the video display unit 233 in response to an image display request from the smartphone 1 (details will be described later).

[0034] Figure 4 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the TV Cloud 3 according to the first embodiment. As shown in Figure 4, the TV Cloud 3 includes a communication I / F 301, an operation unit 302, a CPU 303, a memory 304, and a storage device 305.

[0035] The communication interface 301 is an interface used for communication with external devices. The operation unit 302 includes input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, and a display device such as a display.

[0036] The storage device 305 includes, for example, an HDD or SSD, and stores various information. The CPU 303 controls each component of the TV Cloud 3 by executing various programs. The memory 304 includes, for example, ROM or RAM, and stores various programs and data used for various calculation processes by the CPU 303.

[0037] Figure 5 is a block diagram showing a partial configuration example of the TV Cloud 3 of the first embodiment. The TV Cloud 3 includes a storage unit 311 (memory 304, storage device 305), and a functional module generated as a result of a program stored in the storage unit 311 being executed by the CPU 303, which includes an acquisition unit 312, a transmission unit 313, and a generation unit 314.

[0038] The storage unit 311 stores programs and databases (DBs) executed by the CPU 303. An example of the DB data structure will be explained using Figure 6. As shown in Figure 6, the DB stores information including the TVID, authentication code, EC server ID, and token. The DB may also contain attribute information of the television device 2 corresponding to the TVID (such as the television model).

[0039] The TVID is information that identifies the television device 2. The authentication code is a code required to obtain the token described later. The EC server ID is information that identifies the content provision server 4. That is, it is the ID of the EC site server, etc. The token is information used for authentication. Returning to Figure 5, the acquisition unit 312 acquires various information from the external device. The transmission unit 313 transmits various information to the external device. The generation unit 314 performs the information generation operation on the DB.

[0040] Next, the processing flow of each component in the information sharing system S will be explained. Figure 7 is a flowchart showing the overall processing in the information sharing system S of the first embodiment. Here, the process starts with the user operating the remote control of the television device 2, etc., to specify the e-commerce site that the user wants to link with the smartphone 1 on a so-called portal screen (a screen for linking with e-commerce sites, etc.). Note that the processing of the smartphone 1 shown in Figure 7 may also be executed by an application program installed on the smartphone 1.

[0041] As described above, when an e-commerce site is specified by the user, in step S1, the transmission unit 242 of the television device 2 transmits information about the e-commerce site (e.g., the e-commerce site's ID, the e-commerce site's URL, etc.) and the TVID, which is the identifier of the television device 2, to the TV cloud 3. In this way, the transmission unit 242 transmits information about the content provision server 4, which is an image provision device that provides images from the e-commerce site, to the TV cloud 3.

[0042] The acquisition unit 312 of TV Cloud 3 acquires information about the e-commerce site and the TVID from the television device 2. The generation unit 314 of TV Cloud 3 generates an authentication code and stores information including the TVID, the e-commerce server ID which identifies the content provision server 4 of the e-commerce site, and the authentication code in the database of the storage unit 311. The generation unit 314 also generates a QR code (registered trademark), which is a two-dimensional code based on the authentication code and the URL of the e-commerce site to be accessed. Note that the QR code is just an example, and other display information may be used. That is, other forms of display information that can transmit the authentication code and the access information of the e-commerce site may be used. The authentication code may include a part for identifying the manufacturer and a part for identifying the television device 2.

[0043] In step S2, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 transmits the above QR code to the requesting television device 2. In response to the request from the television device 2, it transmits a QR code containing the URL to access the EC site and an authentication code.

[0044] The acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires a QR code from the TV cloud 3. In this way, the acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires a QR code that is access information based on the authentication code and the URL of the EC site to be accessed. The display control unit 244 of the television device 2 displays the QR code on the video display unit 233. In this way, the display control unit 244 displays and outputs the QR code.

[0045] In step S3, the smartphone 1 reads the QR code displayed on the video display unit 233 using a QR code reading function implemented by an imaging means or the like. As a result, the smartphone 1 obtains the URL of the e-commerce site and an authentication code. In step S4, once the smartphone 1 has obtained the URL of the e-commerce site and an authentication code, it accesses the content provision server 4 based on the URL and sends the authentication code.

[0046] When the content provider server 4 obtains an authentication code from the smartphone 1, in step S5, it sends the authentication code, along with information identifying the content provider server 4, to the TV cloud 3 and makes an authentication request. The acquisition unit 312 of the TV cloud 3 also obtains the authentication code, along with information identifying the content provider server 4. In this way, the acquisition unit 312 of the TV cloud 3 obtains the authentication code sent from the content provider server 4.

[0047] The generation unit 314 of the TV Cloud 3 authenticates by referring to the DB in the storage unit 311 and determining whether there is information corresponding to the information identifying the content provider server 4 and the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. The generation unit 314 refers to the DB in the storage unit 311 and, if there is information corresponding to the information identifying the content provider server 4 and the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312, generates a token using known technology. The generation unit 314 also further associates the above token with the information in the DB that has the information identifying the content provider server 4 and the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. The information to which the above token is further associated with the information identifying the content provider server 4 and the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312 also includes the TVID of the requesting television device 2.

[0048] Therefore, the generation unit 314 generates correspondence information that associates the television device 2 corresponding to the authentication code with the token based on the authentication code.

[0049] In step S6, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 sends the token generated by the generation unit 314 to the content provision server 4. In this way, the transmission unit 313 sends a token based on the authentication code to the content provision server 4. The content provision server 4 stores information that associates the token with the user ID of the smartphone 1 that sent the authentication code.

[0050] In step S7, smartphone 1 logs in to content provider server 4 and accesses the e-commerce site. As a result, smartphone 1 displays the e-commerce site screen. Here, the user of smartphone 1 selects an instruction indicating a TV display request for a predetermined link on the e-commerce site screen. In step S8, smartphone 1 sends the URL of the linked destination to content provider server 4 in accordance with this selection, thereby making a TV display request. Content provider server 4 receives the URL of the image to be displayed along with the TV display request from smartphone 1.

[0051] In step S9, the content provider server 4 sends a token corresponding to the requesting smartphone 1 and the URL of the image to be displayed to the TV cloud 3, requesting display. The acquisition unit 312 of the TV cloud 3 acquires the token and URL sent by the content provider server 4. In this way, the acquisition unit 312 acquires the token sent by the content provider server 4 and the URL of the access destination for the image to be displayed based on the request from smartphone 1.

[0052] In step S10, the TV cloud 3 refers to the DB in the storage unit 311 and identifies the TVID corresponding to the token acquired by the acquisition unit 312. Then, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 sends the URL of the access destination for the image to be displayed to the television device 2 corresponding to that TVID.

[0053] The acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires the URL of the access destination for the image to be displayed. The transmission unit 242 of the television device 2 then accesses the content provision server 4 based on the URL, and the acquisition unit 243 acquires the image from the content provision server 4 based on the access destination of the image to be displayed. The display control unit 244 of the television device 2 then displays the image acquired by the acquisition unit 243 on the video display unit 233.

[0054] In the first embodiment, the TV cloud 3 generates correspondence information that associates the television device 2 corresponding to the authentication code with a token based on the authentication code. When it obtains the token and the access destination of the image to be displayed based on the request from the smartphone 1 from the content provision server 4, it notifies the television device 2 of the access destination of the image, thereby enabling the television device 2 to display the image in response to the request from the smartphone 1. As a result, the TV cloud 3 can display the image based on the request from the smartphone 1 on the television device 2, which can display the image larger than the screen of the smartphone 1.

[0055] Furthermore, the television device 2 outputs access information including the access destination to the content provision server 4 and an authentication code, obtains the access destination of the image to be displayed based on the request from the smartphone 1 from the TV cloud 3, and displays the image on the video display unit 233. In this way, the television device 2 can display the image based on the request from the smartphone 1 on the video display unit 233, which can display larger than the screen of the smartphone 1.

[0056] (Second Embodiment) In the second embodiment, the information sharing system S differs from the first embodiment in that the TV cloud 3 is different for each manufacturer of the television equipment 2. In other words, the information sharing system S in the second embodiment has multiple TV clouds 3.

[0057] Here, we will describe an example of the overall configuration of the information linkage system S of the second embodiment. Figure 8 is a diagram showing an overview of the overall configuration of the information linkage system S of the second embodiment. Note that components identical to those of the first embodiment are given the same reference numerals and their descriptions are omitted. As shown in Figure 8, the information linkage system S has multiple TV clouds 3 (TV cloud 3a, TV cloud 3b). TV cloud 3b can be connected to a television device 2, which is a television from a manufacturer (not shown) associated with the TV cloud 3b.

[0058] 2 is television. 3 is a so-called push notification server, which is a TV cloud. TV cloud 3 is a server of a television manufacturer that manufactures television equipment 2 and, based on the viewing information collected from television equipment 2, provides various services to television equipment 2 via the network, such as recommendations for programs to be viewed and programs to be scheduled, and product recommendations based on the content of programs to be viewed.

[0059] Furthermore, 5 is the TV gateway, which is a common reception server. The TV gateway 5 is the server for the common site of television equipment manufacturers, which integrates the TV clouds 3 of multiple TV manufacturers and connects them to e-commerce (EC). The information sharing system S has a TV gateway 5 (server management device) that can send and receive information with the multiple TV clouds 3 via the network. The TV gateway 5 can also send and receive information via the network with the measurement server 6, which performs measurement processing to aggregate the results of advertisement display. This TV gateway 5 is a cloud server that unites each manufacturer. In other words, the TV gateway 5 is a server that integrates the TV clouds 3 of multiple TV manufacturers and connects them to the content provision server 4. The TV gateway 5 issues client credentials (client_id, client_secret) to the content provision server 4.

[0060] Furthermore, a random secret to be set in the x-api-key is predetermined between the TV Cloud 3 and the TV Gateway 5. The x-api-key exchanged between the TV Gateway 5 and the Content Provider Server 4 becomes the pass-key.

[0061] Server 4 is a content provider server, such as an e-commerce site server. Content provider server 4 is a server for the e-commerce platform provider. For users, i.e., consumers, content provider server 4 is the server that serves as the platform for purchasing goods and services. In addition, content provider server 4 pre-registers the redirect_uri with TV gateway 5.

[0062] 1050 is a user terminal. User terminal 1050 is a terminal having an application program for connecting the television device 2 and the user terminal 1050, and an optical reading device such as a camera. A smartphone 1 is an example of user terminal 1050. In the first embodiment, user terminal 1050 is described as being a smartphone 1, but it is not limited to a smartphone. User terminal 1050 can be a PC, tablet terminal, or any other device that meets the conditions of the situation. Furthermore, these terminals can replace the smartphone shown in the first embodiment.

[0063] Figure 9 is a block diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the television gateway 5 according to the second embodiment. As shown in Figure 9, the television gateway 5 includes a communication I / F 501, an operation unit 502, a CPU 503, a memory 504, and a storage device 505.

[0064] The communication interface 501 is an interface used for communication with external devices. The operation unit 502 includes input devices such as a keyboard and mouse, and display devices such as a display.

[0065] The storage device 505 includes, for example, an HDD or SSD, and stores various information. The CPU 503 controls each component of the TV gateway 5 by executing various programs. The memory 504 includes, for example, ROM or RAM, and stores various programs and data used for various calculation processes by the CPU 503.

[0066] Figure 10 is a block diagram showing an example of a partial configuration of the television gateway 5 according to the second embodiment. The television gateway 5 includes a storage unit 511 (memory 504, storage device 505), and a functional module generated as a result of a program stored in the storage unit 511 being executed by the CPU 503, which includes an acquisition unit 512, a transmission unit 513, and a generation unit 514.

[0067] The memory unit 511 stores programs and databases (DBs) executed by the CPU 503.

[0068] The acquisition unit 512 acquires various information from an external device. The transmission unit 513 transmits various information to the external device. The generation unit 514 performs information generation operations on the database.

[0069] Next, the processing flow of each component in the information linkage system S of the second embodiment will be described. Figure 11 is a flowchart of the overall processing in the information linkage system S of the second embodiment. The flowchart shown in Figure 11 also starts with the user operating the remote control of the television device 2, etc., and specifying the EC site that the user wants to link with the smartphone 1 on the so-called portal screen. The authentication code and token generated by TV Cloud 3 shall include information that identifies the manufacturer. In other words, TV Cloud 3 shall include information that identifies its own device in the authentication code and token.

[0070] Furthermore, since step S21 in Figure 11 is the same as step S1 in Figure 7, its explanation is omitted. In step S22, a URL authentication code is sent from TV Cloud 3 to the television device 2. The URL authentication code 2010 is information that includes URL information to identify the content provision server 4 and an authentication code for authenticating between the content provision server 4 and TV Cloud 3. The authentication code may include a part for identifying the manufacturer of the television device 2 and a part for identifying the television device 2. The part of the authentication code that identifies the television device 2 is a random value. TV Cloud 3 may also associate the time it sent this value to the television device 2 with information in the DB of the storage unit 311.

[0071] An example of URL authentication code 2010 information is as follows: https: / / XXXXXXX YYYYYYYYY The X part contains the URL of content provider server 4, and the Y part contains the OAuth2 authorization code. The authorization code part contains information that identifies the manufacturer and television. Either one of the pieces of information that identifies the manufacturer or television device 2 is sufficient. The URL authentication code 2010 can be sent in any format as long as it contains the above information.

[0072] When the acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires the URL authentication code 2010 from the TV cloud 3, the display control unit 244 optically displays the contents of the URL authentication code 2010 as an image or video using the video display unit 233. The display format used by the display control unit 244 can be a QR code, barcode, text, etc., as long as the information contained in the URL authentication code 2010 can be optically displayed as an image or video. Furthermore, although the first embodiment is described using a QR code, it is not limited to a QR code, as is the case in this embodiment.

[0073] Furthermore, similar to step S3 in Figure 7, in step S23, the user terminal 1050 reads the URL authentication code 2011 information optically displayed on the video display unit 233 from the image information optically captured by the imaging means using the URL authentication code reading function. As a result, the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL of the EC site and the authentication code. The authentication code portion is a time-limited authentication code and is configured as follows. “code” :<authorization code> , “state” : <string> / / Random number

[0074] In step S24, when the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL of the e-commerce site and the authentication code, it accesses the content provision server 4 based on the URL and sends the authentication code 2020.

[0075] Authentication code 2020 is the authentication code portion of URL authentication code 2010 and URL authentication code 2011.<authorization code> The authentication code 2021 is as follows: "code":<authorization code> , "state" : <string> / / Random number In addition to the above, authentication code 2020 may also include the URL information of content provider server 4.

[0076] In step S25, when the content provider server 4 receives authentication code 2020, it sends authentication code 2021 to the TV gateway 5 and makes an authentication request. The content provider server 4 sends the authentication request information to, for example, the OAuth2 Token Endpoint of the TV gateway 5. The information for authentication code 2021 has the following structure. Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(<client_id> + ":" +<client_secret> ) Content-type: application / x-www-form-urlencoded ·grant_type:"authorization_code" ·code:<authorization code> (Authentication code) • redirect_uri: The entry point when returning to the EC site on content provider server 4, pre-registered with TV gateway 5. • client_id: An identifier assigned to each e-commerce site on content provision server 4. This is the one pre-registered with TV gateway 5. The client_secret is assigned by TV Gateway 5 based on the client_id for each site of content provider server 4. TV Gateway 5 redirects based on the manufacturer extension of the code file.

[0077] In step S26, the transmitting unit 313 of the TV gateway 5 refers to the acquired authentication code 2021, refers to the manufacturer identification information contained in the authentication code 2021, and identifies the destination TV cloud 3. Specifically, the transmitting unit 313 of the TV gateway 5 checks the authorization code, i.e., the authentication code, and determines which TV cloud 3 it is.

[0078] Then, in step S27, the transmission unit 313 of the TV gateway 5 makes an authentication request by sending authentication request 2022 to the destination TV cloud 3. In this way, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 sends an authentication request 2022 to the destination TV cloud 3, which is identified based on the Authorization_code (authentication code) of the authentication code 2021. The information in the authentication request 2022 sent by the transmission unit 313 of the TV gateway 5 is the same as the information in the authentication code 2021 obtained from the content provision server 4. Examples of other information in the authentication request 2022 are as follows: GET https: / / each-maker.example.com / common / devices / id Authorization: "Bearer"<access_token> The acquisition unit 312 of TV Cloud 3 acquires the authentication code described in URL authentication code 2010 along with information identifying the content provision server 4.

[0079] The generation unit 314 of TV Cloud 3 authenticates by referring to the DB in the storage unit 311 and determining whether there is information corresponding to the information identifying the content provider server 4 and the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. The generation unit 314 refers to the DB in the storage unit 311 and, if there is information corresponding to the information identifying the content provider server 4 and the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312, generates a token 2030. The generation unit 314 further associates the token 2030 with the information in the DB that contains the information identifying the content provider server 4 and the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312.

[0080] In step S28, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 transmits the token 2030 generated by the generation unit 314 to the TV gateway 5.

[0081] Specifically, the transmission unit 313 of TV Cloud 3 sends the OAuth2 Token Response as token 2030 to the TV gateway 5. The OAuth2 Access Token Response in this response is structured as follows. {"access_token":<access token> , "token_type": "Bearer", "expires_in": 3600, "refresh_token":<refresh token>} When TV Cloud 3 accesses TV Gateway 5, it attaches an access_token. expires_in is the validity period (in seconds) of the access_token, and is stored along with the time it will become invalid when it is received. Until then, this access_token is used repeatedly. The refresh_token is stored secretly by the content provision server 4. This is because simply storing it in local storage is not advisable for security reasons. When each manufacturer issues an access_token and refresh_token, they can identify the TV manufacturer by adding an identifier that identifies the TV manufacturer at the beginning.

[0082] The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires token 2030. Then, in step S29, the TV gateway 5 sends token 2030 as token 2031 to the content provision server 4, and the content provision server 4 acquires token 2031. Alternatively, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 may send the token directly to the content provision server 4.

[0083] The content provider server 4 stores information that associates token 2031 with the user ID of user terminal 1050, the source of the authentication code.

[0084] Then, in step S30, the content provision server 4 sends token 2031 and user ID 2040 as a response to the TV gateway 5. This allows the content provision server 4 to send the user ID of the user of user terminal 1050 to the TV gateway 5.

[0085] The structure of the token + user ID 2040 information transmitted by content provider server 4 is as follows: POST https: / / tv-common.example.com / common / users / id Authorization:"Basic"+Base64(<client_id> +":"+<client_secret> ) Content-type:application / x-www-form-urlencoded {grant_type:"access_token", access_token:<access token> (Information issued as an access token in step S28), client_id: An identifier assigned to each site of content provision server 4. Pre-registered on the manufacturer's common site. user_id: User ID on the content provider server 4 site, Preference:<Current User Attributes (Current User Attributes: User's date of birth, gender, postal code, purchase history, etc.)>}

[0086] The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires a token + user ID 2040 from the content provision server 4. In step S31, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 identifies the destination TV cloud 3 from the token + user ID 2040 and sends a device ID request 2041 (TVID) to the destination TV cloud 3. The transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 may also send a token when sending the device ID request 2041.

[0087] Device ID request 2041 is a request from the TV gateway 5 to query each manufacturer (TV cloud 3) for the TV's device_id (TVID) using the OAuth2 access_token, and is, for example, as follows: GET https: / / each-maker.example.com / common / devices / id Authorization: "Bearer"<access_token> • x-api-key: ·Content-type:application / json • client_id: An identifier assigned to each manufacturer's common site.

[0088] TV Cloud 3 refers to the DB in the storage unit 311 and obtains the TVID corresponding to the acquired token. TV Cloud 3 may also obtain device information corresponding to the acquired TVID (attribute information of the television device 2 for that TVID). In step S32, the transmission unit 313 of TV Cloud 3 sends the TVID and other information as a device ID response 2050 to the TV gateway 5. An example of a device ID response 2050 is as follows. ·"device_id": <id>(TVID assigned to television device 2 by TV Cloud 3) ·"model":<model name> (Information about the model of television device 2, such as the display screen size in inches and the number of pixels (2K, 4K, 8K, etc.)

[0089] In step S33, the generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 registers the information binding information, which associates the acquired TVID (device ID), user ID, and model information (model) of the television device 2, as DB information in the storage unit 511.

[0090] Furthermore, the generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 generates a pass key 2051. Also, in step S34, the transmission unit 513 transmits the pass key to the content provision server 4. The pass key includes the following information. ·"pass_key":<pass_key> (This pass_key will be used as the ID when executing operation commands 2090 to 2093 from step S44 onwards.) • "expires_in": 86400, (Expires_in returns a grace period of 10 days or so even if the preference is not available on the first access.) ·"model":<model name> (The model information in the device ID response indicates the model of television device 2, i.e., the display screen size in inches, pixel count information such as 2K, 4K, 8K, etc.)

[0091] Furthermore, in step S35, the generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 stores the generated pass key in the storage unit 511.

[0092] When the content provision server 4 obtains a pass key from the TV gateway 5, it stores the information contained in the pass key. Specifically, the following information is stored for each user ID of the e-commerce site. access_token ·refresh_token • pass_key ·model / / Linked TV model information

[0093] In step S36, the user terminal 1050 logs in to the service provided by the content provision server 4 by launching the application. As a result, the smartphone 1 displays the EC site screen. The EC site screen output by the application also displays a button for connecting to the television device 2. In step S37, the content provision server 4 sends device information 2070 to the user terminal 1050 in response to the login in step S36. The device information 2070 here refers to a combination of one, two, or three of the device ID, user ID, and model name included in the pass key 2051.

[0094] The user of smartphone 1 selects a button on the EC site screen to connect to television device 2. In step S38, the user terminal 1050 sends a TV display request (TV display request 2071) by sending the URL of the link destination to content provision server 4 in accordance with the selection.

[0095] When the content provider server 4 receives a TV display request 2071 from the user terminal 1050, in step S39, it sends a display request 2072 to the television gateway 5, which includes a token, a pass key, and the URL of the linked page, thereby requesting the television device 2 to display the content. The information in the display request 2072 is structured as follows: POST https: / / tv-common.example.com / common / devices / control Authorization: "Bearer"<access_token> x-api-key:<pass_key> Content-type:application / jison {"command_type":"keycode" "keycode":"<common key code>} {"command_type":"webview", "site":"<Website URL> ”, "Template":"full"}

[0096] The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives information about the display request 2072 from the content provision server 4, including the token, pass key, and the URL of the linked page. The acquisition unit 512 then extracts the pass_key from the x-api-key header.

[0097] In step S40, the acquisition unit 512 uses the pass key and the information stored in the storage unit 511 to determine the access destination and access source. In step S41, the transmission unit 513 sends information including the token URL to the TV cloud 3 based on the determination result, and also makes a display request. In this way, the transmission unit 513 sends the token and the access destination of the image to be displayed to the destination TV cloud 3. The TV gateway 5 measures the number of accesses by access source and manufacturer.

[0098] The display request 2073 that the transmitting unit 513 sends to the TV cloud 3 includes a token, client ID, URL, and message. An example of this information is as follows: POST https: / / each-maker.example.com / common / devices / control Authorization: "Bearer"<access_token> x-api-key:<Common site for manufacturers and random secrets determined by each manufacturer> Content-type: application / json {"command_type":"keycode", "keycode":<common key code> , "client_id":<client_id> , "messageid:<message ID>} {"command_type":"webview", "site":<Website URL> (Website URL for TV) "template":"full", "client_id":<client_id> , "messageid":<message ID>}

[0099] The acquisition unit 312 of the TV Cloud 3 receives a display request 2073 from the TV gateway 5. The acquisition unit 312 extracts the access_token from the Authorization header of the display request 2073 and identifies the television device 2. In step S42, the transmission unit 313 of the TV Cloud 3 outputs a display request 2074 to the television device 2 based on the identification result. Note that this display request may be replaced with a manufacturer's proprietary display request command. In addition, if necessary, the TV Cloud 3 may aggregate access for each client_id and send a request to the television.

[0100] In step S43, the television device 2 launches a browser in response to a display request, executes JavaScript (registered trademark) in onLoad or onClick events, and displays the image at the URL to be displayed. The television device 2 also notifies the measurement server 6 of the display operation result notification 2080, which identifies the servicer, user, TV manufacturer, and the displayed advertisement. The measurement server 6 aggregates the results of the advertisement display by the TV cloud 3 to multiple television devices 2. Based on these aggregated results, the manufacturer, TV gateway 5, or the owner of the measurement server 6 requests advertising fees from the e-commerce platform provider that owns the content provision server 4.

[0101] The application on the user terminal 1050 can operate the screen of the television device 2 based on the operation command 2090 in step S44. The operation command 2090 is sent to the content provision server 4 in response to the operation from the user terminal 1050.

[0102] In step S45, the content delivery server 4 sends an operation command 2091, including a common key code, to the TV gateway 5 based on the operation command 2090 sent in step S44. The common key code is a command configured to correspond to the operation buttons on the TV remote control. It includes numbers, directional cursor, volume / channel / power, color keys, function keys, media controls, and manufacturer-specific commands. These manufacturer-specific commands are commands that operate independently by each manufacturer. In other words, manufacturer-specific commands are manufacturer-specific operation commands set by each manufacturer. The common key code is a key code for performing operations common to all manufacturers, excluding the manufacturer-specific commands.

[0103] The numerical commands are "11" "12" "0" "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" ".".

[0104] The crosshair cursor commands are "up", "down", "left", "right", "page up", "page down", "page left", "page right", "enter", "exit", and "back".

[0105] The volume / channel / power commands are "power", "power off", "power on", "volume up", "volume down", "channel up", and "channel down".

[0106] The color keys are "blue", "red", "green", and "yellow".

[0107] The function key commands are "electronic program guide", "initial configuration", "select broadcast type", "input select", "display information", "mute", "contents menu", and "closed caption".

[0108] The media control commands are "Play", "stop", "pause", "rewind", "forward", "backward", "skip forward", "skip backward", and "record".

[0109] When the TV gateway 5 receives operation command 2091 in step S45, it sends operation command 2092 to the TV cloud 3 in step S46. Operation command 2092 is the same command as operation command 2091. In step S47, the TV gateway 5 sends response message ID 2094 as a response message to the content provision server 4. The message ID has the following structure: {messageid:<message ID>}

[0110] When TV Cloud 3 receives operation command 2092 from TV Gateway 5, in step S48, it sends operation command 2093 to television device 2. Operation command 2093 is a manufacturer-specific command that controls the display screen of television device 2, and contains the same or equivalent information as operation command 2092. TV Cloud 3 replaces operation command 2092 with operation command 2093, which is the manufacturer's key code for operating television device 2. If the operation commands of television device 2 become standardized, operation command 2092 can be used directly as operation command 2093 without conversion.

[0111] The television device 2 operates the image displayed on its video display unit 233 based on the operation command 2093. In step S49, the television device 2 also notifies the measurement server 6 of an operation result notification 2081 that identifies the operation command.

[0112] The flowchart shown in Figure 11 illustrates the process of integrating multiple manufacturers to access the platform provider's content delivery server 4. However, as in the TV Cloud 3 of the first embodiment, a manufacturer can also access the content delivery server 4 independently. In this case, the TV Cloud 3 combines the operation of the TV Gateway 5. At this time, the exchange of information between the TV Cloud 3 and the TV Gateway 5 is omitted.

[0113] The TV gateway 5 obtains an authentication code from the content provider server 4, sends the authentication code to the destination TV cloud 3 identified based on the authentication code, obtains a token and the access destination of the image to be displayed from the content provider server 4, and sends the token and the access destination of the image to be displayed to the destination TV cloud 3. This allows the content provider server 4 to process the data without having to decide which of the multiple TV clouds 3 to send it to.

[0114] Furthermore, the programs executed by each device in this embodiment (user terminal 1050, television device 2, TV cloud 3, content provision server 4, TV gateway 5, measurement server 6) can be provided as installable or executable files recorded on a computer-readable recording medium such as a CD (Compact Disc)-ROM (Read Only Memory), flexible disk (FD), CD-R (Recordable), or DVD (Digital Versatile Disk). Alternatively, these programs may be provided or distributed via a network such as the Internet.

[0115] (Third embodiment) The information sharing system S according to the third embodiment has the same overall configuration as the information sharing system S according to the second embodiment. In the information sharing system S according to the third embodiment, the TV gateway 5 obtains tokens not only from the TV cloud 3 but also from the content provision server 4, and uses these tokens to link the ID of the television device 2 with the user ID of the user terminal 1050.

[0116] Note that the data structure stored by TV Cloud 3 is different from that shown in Figure 6. Specifically, TV Cloud 3 stores an HA-ID instead of the TVID shown in Figure 6. Also, it stores a PF-ID instead of the EC site server ID shown in Figure 6. The HA-ID is identification information that includes the TC-ID, which is the company ID of the TV manufacturer, and the TV-ID, which is the device ID of the television equipment 2. The PF-ID is the company ID of the video platform. The TC-ID is an identifier that identifies TV Cloud 3. The PF-ID is an identifier that identifies the content provision server 4.

[0117] Next, the processing flow of each component in the information linkage system S of the third embodiment will be described. Figure 12 is a flowchart of the overall processing in the information linkage system S of the third embodiment. The flowchart shown in Figure 12 also starts with the user operating the remote control of the television device 2, etc., and specifying the EC site (for example, a server that provides content) that the user wants to link with the smartphone 1 on a so-called portal screen. The authentication code and token generated by TV Cloud 3 shall include information that identifies the manufacturer. In other words, TV Cloud 3 shall include information that identifies its own device in the authentication code and token.

[0118] Furthermore, step S61 in Figure 12 is the same as step S1 in Figure 7 and step S12 in Figure 11. In step S61, the television device 2 transmits the PF-ID corresponding to the EC site (video platform) specified by the user to the TV cloud 3.

[0119] In step S62, the TV cloud 3 sends a QR code containing the URL of the TV gateway 5 and a URL authentication code to the television device 2 as a response. The QR code contains the URL of the TV gateway 5 and the following time-limited authentication code.

[0120] {"code":<authorization code> (Authentication code), "state":HEX(JSON.stringify({"tcid"; <tc-id>"pfid"; <pf-id>"salt";<random string>})+hash)(state information)}

[0121] The URL authentication code is information that includes URL information to identify the TV gateway 5, an authentication code for authentication between the content provision server 4 and the TV cloud 3, and state information. The authentication code may include a part for identifying the manufacturer of the television device 2 and a part for identifying the television device 2. The part of the authentication code for identifying the television device 2 is a random value. The TV cloud 3 may also associate the time when it transmitted this value to the television device 2 with information in the database of the storage unit 311. The state information may include information in which the manufacturer's TC-ID and the video platform's PF-ID are encoded.

[0122] An example of URL authentication code information is as follows: https: / / XXXXXXX YYYYYYYYY The X part contains the URL of TV Gateway 5, and the Y part contains the OAuth2 authorization code. The authorization code part contains information that identifies the manufacturer and the TV. Either the manufacturer or the information that identifies the TV device 2 is sufficient. The URL authentication code can be sent in any format as long as it contains the above information. Note that state information may also be included in the Y part.

[0123] When the acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires a URL authentication code from the TV cloud 3, the display control unit 244 optically displays the contents of the URL authentication code as an image or video using the video display unit 233. The display format used by the display control unit 244 can be a QR code, barcode, text, etc., as long as it can optically display and output the information contained in the URL authentication code as an image or video. Furthermore, although the first and second embodiments are described using a QR code, the invention is not limited to a QR code, as is the case in these embodiments.

[0124] Furthermore, similar to step S3 in Figure 7 and step S23 in Figure 11, in step S63, the user terminal 1050 reads the URL authentication code information optically displayed on the video display unit 233 from the image information optically captured by the imaging means using the URL authentication code reading function. As a result, the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL and authentication code of the TV gateway 5. The authentication code portion is a time-limited authentication code and is configured as follows. "code":<authorization code> , "state" : <string> / / Random number

[0125] In step S64, the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL, authentication code, and state information of the TV gateway 5. Based on the URL, it accesses the TV gateway 5 and sends the authentication code and state information to request authentication. The state information includes the TC-ID and PF-ID, as described above.

[0126] The information to be sent when submitting an authentication request is as follows: "code":<authorization code> , "state" : <string> / / Random number

[0127] In step S65, when the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives the authentication code and state information, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 sends an HTML screen containing a linking button indicating a linking instruction to the user terminal 1050. The HTML may also include a URL and parameters for accessing the PF-ID's OAuth2 Authorization Endpoint.

[0128] The user terminal 1050 obtains the HTML-formatted screen shown above. When the user of the user terminal 1050 presses the link button (step S66), it sends an authorization request to the content provision server 4, which is the video platform. The content provision server 4 receives the authorization request and sends information to the user terminal 1050 indicating that it will respond to it (step S67).

[0129] The information sent when making the above authorization request may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(<client_id> + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request { "response_type":"code" "code":<authorization code> (Authentication code) "redirect_uri":<TGW Endpoint> (Endpoint of TV Gateway 5) "client_id": <tg-id>(ID of the TV gateway 5) "scope”: <VPF provided> (Token authentication scope) "state”: HEX(JSON.stringify({"tcid”; <tc-id>"pfid"; <pf-id>"salt";<random string>})+hash)(state information) }

[0130] If user information is not registered on the content provision server 4, a user registration process is performed between the user terminal 1050 and the content provision server 4 (step S68). Here, the user registration process involves registering the user ID and password, which are the information needed to log in to the content provision server 4, and registering the user's attribute information.

[0131] Next, the user terminal 1050 requests login from the content provision server 4, and the content provision server 4 responds to the login request (step S69). The following information (authorization code) is output as an example of the response. Response {"code" :<authorization code> , "state" : <state>}

[0132] Upon receiving the above response, the user terminal 1050 redirects to the TV gateway 5 to instruct it to cooperate (step S70). The user terminal 1050 may also send the above authorization code to the TV gateway 5.

[0133] When the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives a redirect indicating a linkage instruction, the TV gateway 5 identifies the manufacturer based on the TC-ID included in the state information acquired from the user terminal 1050. In other words, the TV gateway 5 assigns a manufacturer (step S71).

[0134] Then, in step S72, the transmitting unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 requests a token by sending an authentication code to the destination TV cloud 3 (step S72).

[0135] The information sent when requesting the token may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(TG-ID + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request Parameters { grant_type:"authorization_code", code:<authorization code> (Authentication code) state : <string>(state information) redirect_uri:<redirect_uri> , client_id: <tg-id> }

[0136] The generation unit 314 of TV Cloud 3 authenticates by referring to the DB in the storage unit 311 and determining whether there is information that identifies the content provider server 4 (for example, information included in the state information) and information that corresponds to the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. The generation unit 314 refers to the DB in the storage unit 311 and generates a token (first token) if there is information that identifies the content provider server 4 and information that corresponds to the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. The generation unit 314 also further associates the first token with the information that identifies the content provider server 4 and information that contains the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312 in the DB.

[0137] In step S73, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 transmits the first token generated by the generation unit 314 to the TV gateway 5.

[0138] Specifically, the transmission unit 313 of TV Cloud 3 sends the OAuth2 Token Response as a token to the TV Gateway 5. This OAuth2 Access Token Response is structured as follows. Response {"access_token":<access token> , "token_type": "Bearer", "expires_in": 3600, "refresh_token":<refresh token>}

[0139] When TV Cloud 3 accesses TV Gateway 5, it attaches an access_token. expires_in is the validity period (in seconds) of the access_token, and is stored along with the time it will become invalid when it is received. Until then, this access_token is used repeatedly. The refresh_token is stored secretly by the content provision server 4. This is because simply storing it in local storage is not advisable for security reasons. When each manufacturer issues an access_token and refresh_token, they can identify the TV manufacturer by adding an identifier that identifies the TV manufacturer at the beginning.

[0140] When the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires the first token, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 transmits information including the authorization code and requests a token from the content provision server 4 (step S74).

[0141] The information sent when requesting the token may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(TG-ID + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request { grant_type:"authorization_code", code: <code>(Authorization code) state : <string>(state information) redirect_uri:<TGW Endpoint> , client_id: <tg-id> }

[0142] The content provider server 4 identifies the user ID corresponding to the authorization code obtained from the TV gateway 5. Then, the content provider server 4 generates a second token, which is a token based on that user ID.

[0143] In step S75, the content provision server 4 sends the generated second token to the TV gateway 5. The content provision server 4 may also store the second token in association with the user ID and user attribute information.

[0144] Specifically, the content provider server 4 sends the OAuth2 Token Response as a token to the TV gateway 5. This OAuth2 Access Token Response is structured as follows: {"access_token":<access token> , "token_type": "Bearer", "expires_in": 3600, "refresh_token":<refresh token>}

[0145] The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires a second token from the content provision server 4. Then, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 transmits the second token to the content provision server 4 and requests user information from the content provision server 4 (step S76).

[0146] The information transmitted when requesting user information may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Bearer" +<access token> )

[0147] The content provision server 4 retrieves the user ID and user attribute information corresponding to the second token obtained from the TV gateway 5, and sends this information to the TV gateway 5 as a response (step S77). As a result, the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 obtains the user ID and user attribute information. The information in the response is structured as follows. Response {"user_id": <ur-id>(User ID on the content delivery server 4 site), "Preference": <Current user attributes> (User's date of birth, gender, postal code, purchase history, etc.)

[0148] In step S78, the content provision server 4 transmits the PF-ID and requests device information. The information transmitted at the time of this device information request is, for example, configured as follows: Authorization: "Basic"+Base64(PF-ID + ":" +<client_secret> )

[0149] When the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives a device information request from the content provision server 4, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 sends a first token corresponding to the second token sent in step S74 to the TV cloud 3 and requests device information (step S79). The information sent at the time of the device information request is, for example, configured as follows. Authorization: "Bearer" +<access token> )

[0150] When the acquisition unit 312 of TV Cloud 3 acquires a first token, it acquires the HA-ID corresponding to the first token and the device information corresponding to the HA-ID (attribute information of the television device 2 corresponding to the HA-ID).

[0151] In step S80, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 sends information such as the HA-ID as a response to the TV gateway 5. The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires the HA-ID and information about the device corresponding to the HA-ID. An example of such a response is as follows. Response { ·"device_id": <ha-id>(HA-ID) ·"model":<model name> (Information about the model of television device 2, such as the display screen size in inches and the number of pixels (2K, 4K, 8K, etc.) }

[0152] In step S81, the generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 registers the acquired HA-ID, user ID, model information (model), which is attribute information of the television device 2, and PF-ID as bind information in the storage unit 511 as DB information. The generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 may also include user attribute information as part of the bind information.

[0153] Furthermore, the generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 generates a pass key. Also, in step S82, the transmission unit 513 transmits the pass key to the content provision server 4. The pass key includes the following information. ·"pass_key":<pass_key> (This pass_key will be used as the ID when executing the operation command.) • "expires_in": 86400, (Expires_in returns a grace period of 10 days or so even if the preference is not available on the first access.) ·"model":<model name> (The model information in the device ID response indicates the model of television device 2, i.e., the display screen size in inches, pixel count information such as 2K, 4K, 8K, etc.)

[0154] Furthermore, the generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 stores the generated pass key in the storage unit 511.

[0155] When the content provider server 4 obtains a pass key from the TV gateway 5, it stores the information contained in the pass key. Specifically, the content provider server 4 stores the following information for each user ID of the e-commerce site. access_token ·refresh_token • pass_key ·model / / Linked TV model information

[0156] The TV gateway 5 obtains an authentication code from the user terminal 1050, sends the authentication code to the TV cloud 3 identified as the destination based on the authentication code, obtains a first token from the TV cloud 3, and obtains a second token from the content provision server 4. Then, the TV gateway 5 obtains the user ID by sending the second token to the content provision server 4, and obtains the ID of the television device 2 (for example, the HA-ID) by sending the first token to the TV cloud 3. In this way, the TV gateway 5 can associate the user ID with the ID of the television device 2 by obtaining the user ID from the content provision server 4 and the ID of the television device 2 from the TV cloud 3.

[0157] In this case, since the TV gateway 5 stores the user ID in association with the ID of the television device 2, the TV cloud 3 does not need to manage the user ID, thus reducing the information management burden on the TV cloud 3. Furthermore, since the TV gateway 5 obtains the authentication code from the user terminal 1050, the content provision server 4 does not need to transmit the authentication code to the TV gateway 5, thus reducing the processing burden on the content provision server 4. In other words, the TV gateway 5 can appropriately perform the process of linking the receiver identifier (the ID of the television device 2) with the terminal identifier (the user ID of the user terminal 1050).

[0158] (Fourth Embodiment) The information sharing system S according to the fourth embodiment has the same overall configuration as the information sharing system S according to the second embodiment. In the second embodiment, the case in which the authentication code is also included in the QR code was described, but in the information sharing system S according to the fourth embodiment, the authentication code is displayed separately as a PIN code.

[0159] Next, the processing flow of each configuration in the information linkage system S of the fourth embodiment will be described. Step S21 in Figure 13 is the same as step S21 in Figure 11 and step S1 in Figure 7, so its explanation will be omitted.

[0160] In step S91, TV Cloud 3 sends a QR code containing a URL to the television device 2. TV Cloud 3 also sends a PIN code corresponding to the authentication code to the television device 2.

[0161] Examples of URL information contained in a QR code are as follows: https: / / XXXXXXX The X represents the URL of content provider server 4. The URL sent via QR code can be in any format as long as it includes the above information.

[0162] When the acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires a QR code and a PIN code from the TV cloud 3, the display control unit 244 optically displays and outputs the QR code as an image or video on the video display unit 233. The display control unit 244 also displays and outputs the PIN code.

[0163] In step S92, the user terminal 1050 reads the URL information optically displayed on the video display unit 233 using a reading function from the image information optically captured by the imaging means.

[0164] In step S93, the user terminal 1050 launches the application (app) and makes it possible to accept input of a PIN code.

[0165] In step S94, when a PIN code is entered by the user, the user terminal 1050 acquires the PIN code as an authentication code. Steps S24 to S35 are the same as steps S24 to S35 in Figure 11.

[0166] In the fourth embodiment, the TV cloud 3 transmits a PIN code corresponding to the authentication code to the television device 2, and the television device 2 displays the PIN code. Then, the user of the user terminal 1050 performs an input operation based on the PIN code, and the user terminal 1050 transmits the PIN code as the authentication code to the content provision server 4.

[0167] In this case, even if the authentication code cannot be included in the 2D code along with the URL, the user terminal 1050 can still send the authentication code to the content provision server 4.

[0168] (Fifth embodiment) The information linkage system S according to the fifth embodiment has the same overall configuration as the information linkage system S according to the third embodiment. In the information linkage system S according to the fifth embodiment, the television gateway 5 transmits campaign information to the television device 2 as promotional information to encourage the process of linking the ID of the television device 2 with the user ID of the user terminal 1050, as in the information linkage system S according to the third embodiment. In the information linkage system S, when the television device 2 is instructed to link the ID of the television device 2 with the user ID of the user terminal 1050 based on the promotional information, the process of linking the ID of the television device 2 with the user ID of the user terminal 1050 is executed.

[0169] In the information sharing system S, when television device 2 requests to acquire program guide information, television gateway 5 accepts the request. Television gateway 5 acquires program guide configuration information and transmits it to television device 2. Program guide configuration information includes carrier information, channel information, program information, commercial information, and VOD information. The file server that implements television gateway 5 stores the program guide configuration information. In other words, television gateway 5 stores program configuration information and transmits the stored program configuration information to television device 2 in response to a program guide information acquisition request from television device 2.

[0170] The TV gateway 5 stores campaign information and transmits campaign information in response to a request from the television device 2 when transmitting program guide configuration information.

[0171] Here, the content of the campaign information will be explained using Figure 14. Figure 14 shows an example of promotional information. The campaign information usually consists of a linked data section 330, a campaign linked data section 340, and one or more advertising information sections 350.

[0172] The standard linked data portion 330 includes information indicating the object of the ID linking data (idbind), information indicating the base URL of the URL where the image file is stored (img_base_url), information indicating an image explaining the linking method (explanation_img of bind), and information indicating an image explaining the unlinking method (explanation_img of unbind).

[0173] The campaign integration data section 340 includes information indicating an array of campaign information objects (idbind_campaign), information indicating the target TV manufacturer (tv), information indicating the base URL of the URL where the image file is stored (img_base_url), information indicating an image explaining the campaign content (campaign_img), information indicating an image to display if integration has already been completed (hasbound_img), information indicating an image explaining the integration method (explanation_img), information indicating an image recommending permission to allow tracking by IFA-ID (recommend_tracking_img), information indicating the campaign start date and time (start), and information indicating the campaign end date and time (end).

[0174] The information indicating the image in the campaign linkage data section 340 may be set differently for each TV manufacturer using macros or the like. This allows for the assignment of different campaign images to each of multiple TV manufacturers with a simple configuration.

[0175] The advertising information section 350 includes sequence information (tv) indicating the target TV manufacturer, an ad_info unique identifier (id), advertising information (ad_info) including information indicating the type of advertisement and the content of the advertisement, the start date and time of display (start), and the end date and time of display (end).

[0176] Furthermore, as shown in Figures 14 and 15, the advertisement information includes information indicating the type of advertisement display (type), information indicating the ID of the screen on which it will be displayed (place), a text message to be displayed if the advertisement type is text (message), a URL of the display image to be displayed if the advertisement type is image (image), a URL of the video to be displayed if the advertisement type is movie (movie), and information indicating the display period of the advertisement (period). The above text message, display image URL, and video URL are examples of information that indicates the content of the advertisement.

[0177] The campaign information shown in Figure 14 includes an ad information section 350a for text ads, an ad information section 350b for image ads, and an ad information section 350c for movie ads. When the television device 2 receives the campaign information shown in Figure 14, it displays a text message ad, an image ad, and a video ad.

[0178] Next, we will explain the procedure for displaying advertisements based on campaign information using Figure 16. Figure 16 is a flowchart showing the process for displaying advertisements based on campaign information.

[0179] The process shown in Figure 16 is the process that the television device 2 executes when displaying the program guide. In response to user operation, the television device 2 requests the television gateway 5 to obtain program guide information (program guide) for the e-commerce site specified by the user. When the television device 2 requests the acquisition of program guide information, the television gateway 5 accepts the request. The television gateway 5 transmits the program guide information to the television device 2. The television device 2 displays the program guide information. The program guide information includes operator information, channel information, program information, commercial information, and VOD information.

[0180] In this manner, when the television device 2 displays the program guide configuration information, it requests the television gateway 5 to obtain campaign information. If the television device 2 does not obtain campaign information from the television gateway 5 (step S101: No), it terminates the process.

[0181] If the television device 2 obtains campaign information from the television gateway 5 (step S101: Yes), it refers to the campaign information and determines whether there is any advertising information within the validity period based on the display start date and time and the display end date and time (step S102). If there is no advertising information within the validity period (step S102: No), the television device 2 terminates the process.

[0182] If there is advertising information within the validity period (step S102: Yes), the television device 2 extracts the information to be displayed from the campaign information (step S103). Then, the television device 2 executes the loop process in step S104 until all the extracted information is displayed or the program guide display is terminated by user operation.

[0183] In the loop processing of step S104, the television device 2 displays an advertisement according to the type of advertisement (step S105).

[0184] Furthermore, if the user selects to participate in the campaign while the television device 2 is displaying an advertisement (for example, during the loop processing in step S104), it may display survey information, accept input of the survey information, and request a linking instruction. This survey is one in which the user's attributes (gender, address, etc.) are accepted.

[0185] Furthermore, the television device 2 may refer to the campaign information and first display a screen where the user can select to apply for the campaign, and then execute the flowchart shown in Figure 16. In other words, the television device 2 may execute the advertising display process and the ID linking process separately and independently.

[0186] Next, the linkage processing procedure will be explained using Figure 17. Figure 17 is a flowchart of the linkage processing procedure. The authentication code and token generated by TV Cloud 3 shall include information that identifies the manufacturer. In other words, TV Cloud 3 shall include information that identifies its own device in the authentication code and token.

[0187] Before executing the flowchart shown in Figure 16, the television device 2 generates an IFA-ID using a random number generator and notifies the TV cloud 3 (step S111). This IFA-ID is a number with a sufficient number of digits to guarantee its uniqueness. The television device 2 may also transmit its TV model name. Furthermore, bearer authentication may be performed in steps S111 and S112.

[0188] TV Cloud 3 transmits the IFA-ID to TV Gateway 5 (step S112). Subsequently, in step S113, the flowchart shown in Figure 16 is executed. In step S113, when a linkage instruction is given, television device 2 requests a QR code (step S114).

[0189] Furthermore, step S114 in Figure 17 is the same as step S1 in Figure 7, step S12 in Figure 11, and step S61 in Figure 12. In step S114, the television device 2 transmits the PF-ID corresponding to the EC site (video platform) specified by the user to the TV cloud 3.

[0190] In step S115, TV Cloud 3 sends a QR code containing the URL of TV Gateway 5 and a URL authentication code to Television Device 2 as a response. The QR code contains the URL of TV Gateway 5 and the following time-limited authentication code.

[0191] {"code":<authorization code> (Authentication code), "state":HEX(JSON.stringify({"tcid"; <tc-id>"pfid"; <pf-id>"salt";<random string>})+hash)(state information)}

[0192] The URL authentication code is information that includes URL information to identify the TV gateway 5, an authentication code for authentication between the content provision server 4 and the TV cloud 3, and state information. The authentication code may include a part for identifying the manufacturer of the television device 2 and a part for identifying the television device 2. The part of the authentication code for identifying the television device 2 is a random value. The TV cloud 3 may also associate the time when it transmitted this value to the television device 2 with information in the database of the storage unit 311. The state information may include information in which the manufacturer's TC-ID and the video platform's PF-ID are encoded.

[0193] An example of URL authentication code information is as follows: https: / / XXXXXXX YYYYYYYYY The X part contains the URL of TV Gateway 5, and the Y part contains the OAuth2 authorization code. The authorization code part contains information that identifies the manufacturer and the TV. Either the manufacturer or the information that identifies the TV device 2 is sufficient. The URL authentication code can be sent in any format as long as it contains the above information. Note that state information may also be included in the Y part.

[0194] When the acquisition unit 243 of the television device 2 acquires a URL authentication code from the TV cloud 3, the display control unit 244 optically displays the contents of the URL authentication code as an image or video using the video display unit 233. The display format used by the display control unit 244 can be a QR code, barcode, text, etc., as long as it can optically display and output the information contained in the URL authentication code as an image or video. Furthermore, although the first and second embodiments are described using a QR code, the invention is not limited to a QR code, as is the case in these embodiments.

[0195] Furthermore, similar to step S3 in Figure 7, step S23 in Figure 11, and step S63 in Figure 12, in step S116, the user terminal 1050 reads the URL authentication code information optically displayed on the video display unit 233 from the image information optically captured by the imaging means using the URL authentication code reading function. As a result, the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL and authentication code of the TV gateway 5. The authentication code portion is a time-limited authentication code and is configured as follows. "code":<authorization code> , "state" : <string> / / Random number

[0196] In step S117, the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL, authentication code, and state information of the TV gateway 5. Based on the URL, it accesses the TV gateway 5 and sends the authentication code and state information to request authentication. The state information includes the TC-ID and PF-ID, as described above.

[0197] The information to be sent when submitting an authentication request is as follows: "code":<authorization code> , "state" : <string> / / Random number

[0198] In step S118, when the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives the authentication code and state information, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 sends an HTML screen containing a linking button indicating a linking instruction to the user terminal 1050. The HTML may also include a URL and parameters for accessing the PF-ID's OAuth2 Authorization Endpoint.

[0199] The user terminal 1050 obtains the HTML-formatted screen shown above. When the user of the user terminal 1050 presses the link button (step S119), it sends an authorization request to the content provision server 4, which is the video platform. The content provision server 4 receives the authorization request and sends information to the user terminal 1050 indicating that it will respond to it (step S120).

[0200] The information sent when making the above authorization request may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(<client_id> + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request { "response_type":"code" "code":<authorization code> (Authentication code) "redirect_uri":<TGW Endpoint> (Endpoint of TV Gateway 5) "client_id": <tg-id>(ID of the TV gateway 5) "scope”: <VPF provided> (Token authentication scope) "state”: HEX(JSON.stringify({"tcid”; <tc-id>"pfid"; <pf-id>"salt";<random string>})+hash)(state information) }

[0201] If, at step S119, the television device 2 requests confirmation of the linkage status from the television gateway 5 via the TV cloud 3 (steps S151, S152), the television gateway 5 sends information to the television device 2 indicating that the linkage is not yet complete (steps S153, S154).

[0202] If user information is not registered on the content provision server 4, a user registration process is performed between the user terminal 1050 and the content provision server 4 (step S121). Here, the user registration process involves registering the user ID and password, which are the information needed to log in to the content provision server 4, and registering the user's attribute information.

[0203] Next, the user terminal 1050 requests login from the content provision server 4, and the content provision server 4 responds to the login request (step S122). The following information (authorization code) is output as an example of the response. Response {"code" :<authorization code> , "state" : <state>}

[0204] Upon receiving the above response, the user terminal 1050 redirects to the TV gateway 5 to instruct it to cooperate (step S123). The user terminal 1050 may also send the above authorization code to the TV gateway 5.

[0205] When the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives a redirect indicating a linkage instruction, the TV gateway 5 identifies the manufacturer based on the TC-ID included in the state information acquired from the user terminal 1050. In other words, the TV gateway 5 assigns a manufacturer (step S124).

[0206] Then, in step S125, the transmitting unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 requests a token by sending an authentication code to the destination TV cloud 3 (step S125).

[0207] The information sent when requesting the token may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(TG-ID + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request Parameters { grant_type:"authorization_code", code:<authorization code> (Authentication code) state : <string>(state information) redirect_uri:<redirect_uri> , client_id: <tg-id> }

[0208] The generation unit 314 of TV Cloud 3 authenticates by referring to the DB in the storage unit 311 and determining whether there is information that identifies the content provider server 4 (for example, information included in the state information) and information that corresponds to the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. The generation unit 314 refers to the DB in the storage unit 311 and generates a token (first token) if there is information that identifies the content provider server 4 and information that corresponds to the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. The generation unit 314 also further associates the first token with the information that identifies the content provider server 4 and information that contains the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312 in the DB.

[0209] In step S126, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 transmits the first token generated by the generation unit 314 to the TV gateway 5.

[0210] Specifically, the transmission unit 313 of TV Cloud 3 sends the OAuth2 Token Response as a token to the TV Gateway 5. This OAuth2 Access Token Response is structured as follows. Response {"access_token":<access token> , "token_type": "Bearer", "expires_in": 3600, "refresh_token":<refresh token>}

[0211] When TV Cloud 3 accesses TV Gateway 5, it attaches an access_token. expires_in is the validity period (in seconds) of the access_token, and is stored along with the time it will become invalid when it is received. Until then, this access_token is used repeatedly. The refresh_token is stored secretly by the content provision server 4. This is because simply storing it in local storage is not advisable for security reasons. When each manufacturer issues an access_token and refresh_token, they can identify the TV manufacturer by adding an identifier that identifies the TV manufacturer at the beginning.

[0212] When the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires the first token, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 transmits information including the authorization code and requests a token from the content provision server 4 (step S127).

[0213] The information sent when requesting the token may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(TG-ID + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request { grant_type:"authorization_code", code: <code>(Authorization code) state : <string>(state information) redirect_uri:<TGW Endpoint> , client_id: <tg-id> }

[0214] The content providing server 4 identifies the user ID corresponding to the authorization code acquired from the TV gateway 5 based on the authorization code. Then, the content providing server 4 generates a second token which is a token based on the user ID.

[0215] In step S128, the content providing server 4 transmits the generated second token to the TV gateway 5. Note that the content providing server 4 may store the second token, the user ID, and the user attribute information in association with each other.

[0216] Specifically, the content providing server 4 transmits an OAuth2 Token Response as a token to the TV gateway 5. The OAuth2 Access Token Response of this response is configured as follows. {"access_token”: <access token>, "token_type”: "Bearer”, "expires_in”: 3600, "refresh_token”: <refresh token>}

[0217] The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires the second token from the content providing server 4. Then, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 transmits the second token to the content providing server 4 and makes a user information request to the content providing server 4 (step S129).

[0218] The information transmitted at the time of the user information request is, for example, configured as follows. Authorization: "Bearer” + <access token>)

[0219] The content provision server 4 searches for the user ID and user attribute information corresponding to the second token obtained from the TV gateway 5, and sends this information to the TV gateway 5 as a response (step S130). As a result, the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 obtains the user ID and user attribute information. The information in the response is structured as follows. Response {"user_id": <ur-id>(User ID on the content delivery server 4 site), "Preference": <Current user attributes> (User's date of birth, gender, postal code, purchase history, etc.)

[0220] In step S131, the content provision server 4 transmits the PF-ID and requests device information. The information transmitted at the time of the device information request is, for example, configured as follows: Authorization: "Basic"+Base64(PF-ID + ":" +<client_secret> )

[0221] When the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives a device information request from the content provision server 4, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 sends a first token corresponding to the second token sent in step S127 to the TV cloud 3 and requests device information (step S132). The information sent at the time of the device information request is, for example, configured as follows. Authorization: "Bearer" +<access token> )

[0222] When the acquisition unit 312 of TV Cloud 3 acquires a first token, it acquires the HA-ID corresponding to the first token and the device information corresponding to the HA-ID (attribute information of the television device 2 corresponding to the HA-ID).

[0223] In step S133, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 sends information such as the HA-ID as a response to the TV gateway 5. The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires the HA-ID and information about the device corresponding to the HA-ID. An example of such a response is as follows. Response { ·"device_id": <ha-id>(HA-ID) ·"model":<model name> (Information about the model of television device 2, such as the display screen size in inches and the number of pixels (2K, 4K, 8K, etc.) }

[0224] In step S134, the generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 registers the acquired HA-ID, user ID, model information (model), which is attribute information of the television device 2, and PF-ID as bind information in the storage unit 511 as DB information. The generation unit 514 of the TV gateway 5 may also include user attribute information as part of the bind information.

[0225] In step S135, the TV gateway 5 responds to the user terminal 1050 with the authorization code mentioned above (step S135).

[0226] If, after step S134, the television device 2 requests confirmation of the linkage status from the television gateway 5 via the TV cloud 3 (steps S136, S137), the television gateway 5 sends information to the television device 2 indicating that the linkage is complete (such as information identifying the linked content provision server 4) (steps S138, S139). The television gateway 5 also notifies the content provision server 4 of the IFA-ID (step S140).

[0227] Furthermore, if the IFA-ID is updated in the television device 2, the updated IFA-ID is notified to the TV cloud 3 (step S141). The TV cloud 3 sends the updated IFA-ID to the television gateway 5. The television gateway 5 sends the updated IFA-ID to the content provision server 4 (step S143).

[0228] Next, the link cancellation process will be explained using the flowchart shown in Figure 18. Figure 18 is a flowchart of the link cancellation process. The television device 2 requests the TV cloud 3 to cancel the link in response to user operation (step S161). The TV cloud 3 requests the TV gateway 5 to cancel the link in response to the cancellation request from the television device 2 (step S162). In steps S161 and S162, the television device 2 or the TV cloud 3 may also send an IFA-ID along with the link cancellation request.

[0229] The TV gateway 5 notifies the content provider server 4 of the request to cancel the connection (step S163). The content provider server 4 deletes the generated second token. The TV gateway 5 deletes the bind information and notifies the TV cloud 3 of the deletion (step S164). The TV cloud 3 notifies the television device 2 that the bind information has been deleted (step S165). The TV cloud 3 may also delete the first token. The content provider server 4 also notifies the TV gateway 5 that the connection has been canceled (step S166), and the TV gateway 5 notifies the TV cloud 3 that the connection has been canceled (step S167).

[0230] Next, the procedure for canceling the connection via the user terminal 1050 will be explained using Figure 19. Figure 19 is a flowchart showing the procedure for canceling the connection via the user terminal 1050.

[0231] The process begins with the user operating the remote control or similar device of the television unit 2 to specify the content provider 4 on a so-called portal screen, from which the user wishes to revoke the connection with smartphone 1.

[0232] Step S180 in Figure 19 is the same as step S1 in Figure 7 and step S12 in Figure 11. In step S180, the television device 2 transmits the PF-ID corresponding to the content provision server 4 specified by the user to the TV cloud 3.

[0233] In step S181, TV Cloud 3 sends a QR code containing the URL of TV Gateway 5 and a URL authentication code to Television Device 2 as a response. The QR code contains the URL of TV Gateway 5 and the following time-limited authentication code.

[0234] {"code":<authorization code> (Authentication code), "state":HEX(JSON.stringify({"tcid"; <tc-id>"pfid"; <pf-id>,"salt”;<random string>})+hash)(state information)}

[0235] The URL authentication code is information including URL information for identifying the TV gateway 5, an authentication code for performing authentication between the content providing server 4 and the TV cloud 3, and state information. The authentication code may include a part for discriminating the manufacturer of the television apparatus 2 and a part for discriminating the television apparatus 2. Further, the part for discriminating the television apparatus 2 included in the authentication code is a random value. Also, the TV cloud 3 may associate the time when this value is transmitted to the television apparatus 2 as information in the DB of the storage unit 311. The state information may include information in which the manufacturer's TC-ID and the PF-ID of the video platform are encoded.

[0236] An example of the information of the URL authentication code is as follows. https: / / XXXXXXX YYYYYYYYY In the X part, the URL of the TV gateway 5 is included, and in the Y part, the OAuth2 authorization code is included. In the authorization code part, information for identifying the manufacturer and the TV is included. Either one of the information for identifying the manufacturer and the television apparatus 2 may be used. The transmission format of the URL authentication code may be in any format as long as the above information is included. Note that the state information may be included in the Y part.

[0237] When the acquisition unit 243 of the television apparatus 2 acquires the URL authentication code from the TV cloud 3, the display control unit 244 optically displays and outputs the content of the URL authentication code as an image or video on the video display unit 233. The display form by the display control unit 244 may be a QR code, a barcode, text, etc., as long as the information included in the above URL authentication code can be optically displayed and output as an image or video. Also, in the first embodiment and the second embodiment, the QR code is described, but it is not limited to the QR code as in this embodiment.

[0238] Furthermore, similar to step S3 in Figure 7 and step S23 in Figure 11, in step S182, the user terminal 1050 reads the URL authentication code information optically displayed on the video display unit 233 from the image information optically captured by the imaging means using the URL authentication code reading function. As a result, the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL and authentication code of the TV gateway 5. The authentication code portion is a time-limited authentication code and is configured as follows. "code":<authorization code> , "state" : <string> / / Random number

[0239] In step S183, the user terminal 1050 obtains the URL, authentication code, and state information of the TV gateway 5. Based on the URL, it accesses the TV gateway 5 and sends the authentication code and state information to request authentication. The state information includes the TC-ID and PF-ID, as described above.

[0240] The information to be sent when submitting an authentication request is as follows: "code":<authorization code> , "state" : <string> / / Random number

[0241] In step S184, when the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 receives the authentication code and state information, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 sends an HTML screen containing a link cancellation button indicating a link cancellation instruction to the user terminal 1050. The HTML may also include a URL and parameters for accessing the PF-ID's OAuth2 Authorization Endpoint.

[0242] The user terminal 1050 obtains the HTML screen shown above. When the user terminal 1050 presses the "cancel link" button (step S185), it sends an authorization request to the content provision server 4, which is the video platform. The content provision server 4 receives the authorization request and sends information to the user terminal 1050 indicating that it will respond to it (step S186).

[0243] The information sent when making the above authorization request may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(<client_id> + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request { "response_type":"code" "code":<authorization code> (Authentication code) "redirect_uri":<TGW Endpoint> (Endpoint of TV Gateway 5) "client_id": <tg-id>(ID of the TV gateway 5) "scope”: <VPF provided> (Token authentication scope) "state”: HEX(JSON.stringify({"tcid”; <tc-id>"pfid"; <pf-id>"salt";<random string>})+hash)(state information) }

[0244] Furthermore, if the television device 2 requests confirmation of the connection status from the television gateway 5 via the TV cloud 3 at step S185 (steps S251, S252), the television gateway 5 transmits information to the television device 2 indicating that the connection is established (steps S253, S254).

[0245] Next, the user terminal 1050 requests login from the content provision server 4, and the content provision server 4 responds to the login request (step S188). The following information (authorization code) is output as an example of the response. Response {"code" :<authorization code> , "state" : <state>}

[0246] Upon receiving the above response, the user terminal 1050 redirects to the TV gateway 5 to instruct it to cooperate (step S189). The user terminal 1050 may also send the above authorization code to the TV gateway 5.

[0247] Then, in step S72, the transmitting unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 requests a token by sending an authentication code to the destination TV cloud 3 (step S190).

[0248] The information sent when requesting the token may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(TG-ID + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request Parameters { grant_type:"authorization_code", code:<authorization code> (Authentication code) state : <string>(state information) redirect_uri:<redirect_uri> , client_id: <tg-id> }

[0249] The generation unit 314 of the TV Cloud 3 authenticates by referring to the DB in the storage unit 311 and determining whether there is information that identifies the content provider server 4 (for example, information included in the state information) and information that corresponds to the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312. If the generation unit 314 refers to the DB in the storage unit 311 and finds information that identifies the content provider server 4 and information that corresponds to the authentication code obtained by the acquisition unit 312, the transmission unit 313 of the TV Cloud 3 transmits the first token to the TV gateway 5 (step S191).

[0250] Specifically, the transmission unit 313 of TV Cloud 3 sends the OAuth2 Token Response as a token to the TV Gateway 5. This OAuth2 Access Token Response is structured as follows. Response {"access_token":<access token> , "token_type": "Bearer", "expires_in": 3600, "refresh_token":<refresh token>}

[0251] When TV Cloud 3 accesses TV Gateway 5, it attaches an access_token. expires_in is the validity period (in seconds) of the access_token, and is stored along with the time it will become invalid when it is received. Until then, this access_token is used repeatedly. The refresh_token is stored secretly by the content provision server 4. This is because simply storing it in local storage is not advisable for security reasons. When each manufacturer issues an access_token and refresh_token, they can identify the TV manufacturer by adding an identifier that identifies the TV manufacturer at the beginning.

[0252] When the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires the first token, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 transmits information including the authorization code and requests a token from the content provision server 4 (step S192).

[0253] The information sent when requesting the token may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Basic" + Base64(TG-ID + ":" +<client_secret> ) Request { grant_type:"authorization_code", code: <code>(Authorization code) state : <string>(state information) redirect_uri:<TGW Endpoint> , client_id: <tg-id> }

[0254] In step S193, the content provision server 4 sends the generated second token to the television gateway 5.

[0255] Specifically, the content provider server 4 sends the OAuth2 Token Response as a token to the TV gateway 5. This OAuth2 Access Token Response is structured as follows: {"access_token":<access token> , "token_type": "Bearer", "expires_in": 3600, "refresh_token":<refresh token>}

[0256] The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires a second token from the content provision server 4. Then, the transmission unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 transmits the second token to the content provision server 4 and requests user information from the content provision server 4 (step S194).

[0257] The information transmitted when requesting user information may consist of the following, for example: Authorization: "Bearer" +<access token> )

[0258] The content provision server 4 retrieves the user ID and user attribute information corresponding to the second token obtained from the TV gateway 5, and sends this information to the TV gateway 5 as a response (step S195). As a result, the acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 obtains the user ID and user attribute information. The information in the response is structured as follows. Response {"user_id": <ur-id>(User ID on the content delivery server 4 site), "Preference": <Current user attributes> (User's date of birth, gender, postal code, purchase history, etc.)

[0259] The transmitting unit 513 of the TV gateway 5 transmits the first token to the TV cloud 3 and requests device information (step S196). The information transmitted when requesting device information is, for example, configured as follows. Authorization: "Bearer" +<access token> )

[0260] When the acquisition unit 312 of TV Cloud 3 acquires a first token, it acquires the HA-ID corresponding to the first token and the device information corresponding to the HA-ID (attribute information of the television device 2 corresponding to the HA-ID).

[0261] In step S197, the transmission unit 313 of the TV cloud 3 sends information such as the HA-ID as a response to the TV gateway 5. The acquisition unit 512 of the TV gateway 5 acquires the HA-ID and information about the device corresponding to the HA-ID. An example of such a response is as follows. Response { ·"device_id": <ha-id>(HA-ID) ·"model":<model name> (Information about the model of television device 2, such as the display screen size in inches and the number of pixels (2K, 4K, 8K, etc.) }

[0262] The TV gateway 5 deletes the bind information and notifies the content provider server 4 of the deletion (step S198). Alternatively, the TV gateway 5 may also notify the TV cloud 3 of the deletion of the bind information.

[0263] If the television device 2 requests confirmation of the connection status from the television gateway 5 via the TV cloud 3 after step S198 (steps S199, S200), the television gateway 5 sends information to the television device 2 indicating that it is not connected (steps S201, S202).

[0264] In the above embodiment, we described the case where campaign information is displayed when displaying the program guide. However, campaign information may also be displayed when displaying advertisements on the screen at a specified timing during program broadcast (a program of linearly distributed video content distribution) via the network.

[0265] For example, campaign information may be displayed using clickable ads as shown in Figure 20. Figure 20 is an example of information for a clickable ad. This ad information includes information indicating an array of ad information objects (ad_list), information indicating the ad type (ad_type), information indicating the URL of the ad image (img_url), etc.

[0266] In the embodiment described above, the flowchart in Figure 17 describes the case where the TV gateway 5 requests user information from the content provision server 4 and obtains a UR-ID from the content provision server 4, but it is not limited to this. For example, Figure 21 shows a modified version of the flowchart in Figure 17. The parts that are the same as the process described in Figure 17 will not be explained. Instead of the content provision server 4 providing a UR-ID in step S128 or S130 shown in Figure 21, the TV gateway 5 may issue a temporary UR-ID in step S118 and include its parameter in the value of "state" included in the HTML code. In this case, the user terminal 1050 sends this value to the content provision server 4 in step S120. Also, in the flowchart in Figure 12, the TV gateway 5 may issue a temporary UR-ID as described above.

[0267] The television gateway 5 according to this embodiment stores campaign information and transmits the campaign information to the television device 2 at a predetermined timing, such as when the television device 2 displays the program guide. The campaign information has an advertising information portion 350 which includes information indicating the type of advertisement to be displayed and information indicating the content of the advertisement.

[0268] Furthermore, the TV gateway 5 obtains an authentication code from the user terminal 1050, sends the authentication code to the TV cloud 3 identified as the destination based on the authentication code, obtains a first token from the TV cloud 3, and obtains a second token from the content provision server 4. Then, the TV gateway 5 obtains a user ID by sending the second token to the content provision server 4, and obtains the ID of the television device 2 (for example, the HA-ID) by sending the first token to the TV cloud 3. In this way, the TV gateway 5 can associate the user ID with the ID of the television device 2 by obtaining the user ID from the content provision server 4 and the ID of the television device 2 from the TV cloud 3.

[0269] In this case, since the TV gateway 5 stores the user ID in association with the ID of the television device 2, the TV cloud 3 does not need to manage the user ID, thus reducing the information management burden on the TV cloud 3. Also, since the TV gateway 5 obtains the authentication code from the user terminal 1050, the content provision server 4 does not need to transmit the authentication code to the TV gateway 5, thus reducing the processing burden on the content provision server 4. In other words, the TV gateway 5 can appropriately perform the process of linking the receiver identifier (the ID of the television device 2) with the terminal identifier (the user ID of the user terminal 1050). Furthermore, by outputting campaign information, the TV gateway 5 can facilitate the process of linking the ID of the television device 2 with the user ID of the user terminal 1050. In addition, since the TV gateway 5 has advertising information that includes information indicating the type of advertisement to be displayed and information indicating the content of the advertisement in the campaign information, the television device 2 can further facilitate the process of linking with the user ID of the user terminal 1050 by switching the display mode according to the type of advertisement to output the advertising information. Furthermore, by including multiple advertisements in the campaign information, the TV gateway 5 allows the television device 2 to output multiple advertisements sequentially.

[0270] Furthermore, the TV gateway 5 links the ID of the television device 2 with the user ID of the user terminal 1050, and then transmits the IFA-ID to the content provision server 4. This allows the TV gateway 5 to provide information that identifies the television device 2 without disclosing the ID of the television device 2 to the content provision server 4.

[0271] Although several embodiments of the present invention have been described, these embodiments are presented as examples only and are not intended to limit the scope of the invention. For example, the television device in the above embodiments may be an electronic device that does not have a display means, such as a set-top box or a recorder, but has a receiving function that outputs a video signal to an external display device. Furthermore, these novel embodiments can be carried out in various other forms, and various omissions, substitutions, and modifications can be made without departing from the spirit of the invention. These embodiments and their variations are included in the scope and spirit of the invention, as well as in the claims of the invention and its equivalents. For example, among the image icons displayed on the user terminal, image icons that can be enlarged on the television device may have a button on or near the image icon to instruct the television device to enlarge it. Alternatively, the color, shape, or display format of such enlargeable image icons may be changed to make them distinguishable from other image icons that cannot be enlarged. Furthermore, when the user terminal instructs the television device to enlarge the image, or during the display processing on the television device, an audio notification may be provided via the user terminal or the television device. [Explanation of symbols]

[0272] 1...Smartphone, 2...Television equipment, 3...TV cloud, 4...Content provision server, 5...TV gateway, 6...Measurement server, S...Information sharing system < / string> < / code> < / string> < / state> < / string> < / string> < / string> < / code> < / string> < / state> < / string> < / string> < / string> < / code> < / string> < / state> < / string> < / string> < / id> < / string> < / string>

Claims

1. A processing method performed by a server management device capable of sending and receiving data with multiple server devices, The user terminal obtains an authentication code containing information identifying the manufacturer of the broadcast receiving device. A screen including a linking button for linking with the broadcast receiving device is sent to the user terminal. When a linkage instruction is received from the user terminal by pressing the linkage button, the server device corresponding to the authentication code is identified based on the authentication code which includes information identifying the manufacturer of the broadcast receiving device. The authentication code is sent to the identified server device in order to request a token. Obtain the first token generated from the identified server device, The authentication code and token request are sent to the content provider device. A second token is obtained based on the user ID of the user terminal identified by the authentication code generated from the content providing device. The second token and the user information request are transmitted to the content providing device. The user ID and user attribute information are obtained from the content provisioning device, and a device information request is received. The server device is sent the first token for the second token and the device information request. The server device obtains the ID of the broadcast receiving device corresponding to the first token and the device information corresponding to the ID of the broadcast receiving device. The ID of the broadcast receiving device and the user ID are registered in association with each other. Processing method for server management devices.

2. The authentication code, which includes information identifying the manufacturer of the broadcast receiving device, is sent from the server device to the content providing device via the broadcast receiving device. The processing method for the server management device according to claim 1.

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